Bloodbath releasing their sixth proper studio album could lend itself to fitting allegories if this band had ever slowed down. Despite the subject matter on Survival of the Sickest, the band do not need a resurrection story. Consisting of members from other titanic bands, Bloodbath come together every few years and decimate expectations and eardrums. Bloodbath’s brand of savagery on this offering continues and elevates their style.
The story of Bloodbath is one of brothers of death metal coming together to forge a belligerent version of death metal. The impetus stemmed from their beloved Swedish death metal (four members are Swedish), particularly Entombed, and macerating this with Florida death metal. Bloodbath looked to the torchbearers and regurgitated the pith to a pulverized, concentrate of glorious and gory death metal. Immediately revered when they formed in 1998, they released two LPs on Century Media, then on Peaceville, and now Napalm Records.
There have been former members, but the center remains two members of Katatonia: Jonas Renske, bass and vocals, and Anders Nystrom, guitar andvocals. Since 2004, Martin Axenrot (ex-Nifelheim, ex-Opeth) has handled drums. In 2014, ex-vocalist Mikeal Okerfeldt exited, and Paradise Lost’s Nick Holmes entered, this being his third record for Bloodbath. Rounding out the line-up is new addition, Thomas Akvik, guitars, formerly of Katatonia’s live lineup.
Survival of the Sickest sees the band returning with gnarly, snarling vocals mixing the grandeur and the grotesque. Massive guitars and pounding rhythms conjure up fetid visions as Holmes’ vocals tear through a lingering miasma of terror and fear. Holmes joined a zoom call to illuminate the cogs of the band to produce Survival of the Sickest.
Bloodbath are coming from a summer of festival appearances. They are not a touring band, by design. All members spend their other months touring with their main bands. Holmes clarifies, “We don’t want to be perpetually on the road. It’s bad for your brain.” He is doing seven weeks for Paradise Lost as this is written. After two years of pandemic dormancy and albums from Paradise Lost and Katatonia dropping, it made a prudent time for Bloodbath to gather with what they have been writing.
Individuals began a constant bandying of ideas through technology. Holmes appreciates this method. “The good thing about writing on file share, you’ve got some retrospect. You can listen to it again. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, you can listen the next morning. It’s not like jamming in a rehearsal space. The jamming technique is not the songwriting I have subscribed to.”
With Holmes coming from England, the planning was necessary. “When we recorded, it was done in Stockholm, quite staggered. I did my vocals about a year after the drums were recorded. Guitars were done gradually in-between those periods.” Holmes was pleased to have the members in the studio, as he stated that it was important to include “people involved with the music” present to exchange ideas.
The words Holmes spewed were devised after the music was completed. “I write to the songs. Its much more productive. Whatever I get out of the riff, whatever little journey it takes me on, I think of the right words for the right moment. I don’t necessarily need songs to make sense from beginning to end. I don’t even care about things like that. A good story is always nice to read in a lyric, but it’s got to be the right thing. I particularly don’t need that in death metal music. I just need extremity; all around, including the lyrics, the music; everything compliments each other. It’s very much like another instrument in that respect to me.”
Extremity is at the forefront on Survival of the Sickest. Subtlety is shoved aside immediately. Despite having the song “Chainsaw Lullaby” in their repertoire, Bloodbath usually have songs about grander themes, darker and more supernatural or heretical slander. The images of the past two records, Grand Morbid Funeral (drawn by Nestor Avaolos) and 2018’s The Arrow of Satan is Drawn (Eliran Kantor’s majestic and disturbing gothic painting. This time, Wes Benscoter illustrated the cover. And Survival of the Sickest is visceral and vile, matching the music. Also supporting this are tracks called “Zombie Inferno,” “Putrefying Corpse,” “Malignant Maggot Theory,” and “Tales of Melting Flesh.”
Holmes explain that he cowrote with Anders, and Jonas writes lyrics all his own. “His are more thoughtful behind what he is saying. What I write is just ripped out of Creepshow. But that’s what I like. I am a big fan of horror, have been my whole life. This allows me to vent that channel.”
Assuming Holmes gets to explore the personal and poetic in Paradise Lost, then Bloodbath is probably meant for the tangible dread and violence. Holmes revels, “It’s just about creating extreme scenarios. I’ve always liked ambiguity in lyrics, where I’m not totally sure what the person is talking about. But this is a different thing. If you’re singing about the undead, you kind of know what is going on there.”
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